saligia
by Azaria Stromsis
Summary: “Pleasure is the bait of sin”- Plato. Because their sins would consume them; Shiki and Rima, meet the Seven Deadly Sins.
1. Gula

**Sin: Gluttony**

_GULA_

* * *

_Gluttony, the overindulgence or over consumption to the point of waste. Gluttony is considered to be a type of lust. But, instead of the object of desire being a person, it's food. Or in this particular case, blood._

* * *

For vampires, the age of bloodlust came early.

At around five or six years old, the soon to be familiar urge to attack and suck dry any human in the vicinity of said vampire came into being, causing hell in a vampire's life. While the bloodlust never went away, (as proven by many different studies, all trying to find something that could substitute for blood. Many of the older unmated vampires found it a hassle to go out and hunt. They were fairly mad, and embarrassed, when the Night Class figured it out first.) the five year age range where a young vampire needed blood near daily to help build up their immune system did go away.

For Shiki and Rima however, they came into this 'stage' early. About two years early to be precise, and even worse, in their parents point of view, they came into this 'stage' when no one was around. Therefore there was no one to give them the precious human blood that they needed to survive.

They were alone because the nanny that had been hired to take care of the two best friends (they were each other's only friends at that age) while the elders were at a senate meeting ran off after an hour because the babies wouldn't do anything, and it was really quite unnerving to have two pairs of eyes, one silver and one blue, just looking at you. It was creepy.

They were used to their parents drinking from each other, because once an adult vampire was mated they very rarely drank from anyone else besides their mate. So when the soon to be familiar pain of thirst tickled the back of Shiki's throat and he complained about it, Rima was the one to come up with the answer. "Hm…maybe," she spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully, just like her mother taught her. "It is like what mother and father do when they say they are thirsty."

Shiki looked at her with sleepy eyes then laid his head down on her lap, not noticing the faint flush of Rima's cheeks. "You mean I have to bite my mother? Or my step-father?"

"No baka." Shiki looked up at her, and Rima looked down on him. He swallowed, noticing his parched throat. "You just have to drink from someone." A pause. "By the way you smell nice."

"Thanks." Absentmindedly Shiki thanked Rima while he thought over what she had said, and trying to ignore the thirst. "Could I drink from you?"

Rima flushed, and this time Shiki noticed this, and it only deepened his sudden desire to quench his thirst. His eyes wandered down to her neck, and he could almost see the pulse jumping there, smell the delicious fragrance wafting off of her skin.

"Sure." She waited a moment before sighing. "You know usually, mother and father drink from the throat." Another moment. "That means that you have to get up here Shiki!"

Shiki's eyes had closed again, a side effect of the rapid bloodlust onslaught, and they opened at Rima's sharp tone. His silver eyes met cerulean eyes and it seemed time stood still. "But Weema…" Shiki whined, and then pouted when his R didn't come out like it should. Rima looked amused at his still occurring problem with pronouncing his R's. "I'm so sleepy…" He trailed off with a yawn, which left him even sleepier than before.

Rima sighed and gave in, knowing once Shiki was like this very few things could grab his attention again. She brought the wrist that wasn't buried in Shiki's hair ('When had that happened?' Rima wondered silently) to Shiki's mouth. She wasn't sure what to do next, but Shiki was. His vampiric instinct guided him as he opened his mouth and his newly grown fangs dropped down from his gum line. He bit down and Rima gasped a little at the pain, and hearing this, Shiki immediately stopped and looked at her waiting to see if he should continue.

Rima smiled the smile that him and only him had seen, and Shiki smiled back with blood stained lips.

--

Hours later, when Shiki's mother came to pick him up from Rima's house (mansion) she couldn't find either of them in the house. Pausing in the great room and looking out of the wall of glass that made up the entire west side of the house she spotted a flash of gold in the otherwise green backyard (meadow). Acting on a hunch she went outside to find one of the most adorable sights she had ever seen. And that's including her new husband curled up on their bed with a four month old Senri. Senri's father, Rido Kuran, had left the family a few years prior, and she then meet and mated her current mate.

Senri had his head in Rima's lap, while she was laying down with a hand in his hair. Combining the fact that they had the faces of little angels, (she really had to get them into the modeling industry, what with her sources in the business from her acting days) it was picture worthy. Best of all, they were asleep. Chuckling quietly to herself, she wondered how she was going to get them out of this without waking them. But first…she ran back inside and grabbed the camera that was always situated inside of her purse, just for cases like this. She quickly snapped a photo, grinning like a maniac.

Looking closer, she noticed something else besides the adorable faces. Rima's wrist looked a little pale, with what looked like puncture marks. Her smile slipped quickly from her full lips. Oh no. Shocked eyes looked at Senri's mouth, and yes, his lips were stained a red darker than usual. Senri had drunken Rima's blood, causing a bond to now be forged in between the two young vampires. Hearing some noise behind her, she turned to find her husband and Rima's mother and father coming from the house. The men were conversing loudly and waving there hands about, with occasinally bouts of laughter. Her best friend, compared her to husband, was quiet content to be pressed against her mates side.

Walking over to them quickly, she gave them the best panicked look she could. Seeing her like this her husband immediately sobered, the laughter draining from his face. "Love, what is it?"

"Well…have you heard of a case of bloodlust coming early in children?"

Rima's mother answered, "Not that often, but it isn't unheard of. Why?"

"Beacause, I think we have two cases on our hands." The four adult vampires looked over at Senri and Rima warily, and the men both took a small (ie: big) step back in slight fear. While Senri was temperamental at best, he would go crazy if he was taken away from his source of blood. What made it even worse was that it was his FIRST source of blood (therefore making him even more attached), and his newly developing male hormones would make him very possessive. Rima would just look at them with her eyes and make them feel guilty, all the while never letting go of Senri. Rima's mother was cursing the genes that caused Rima to have those blue eyes that could make her do anything.

"So, what are we going to do?" Rima's father questioned. The two mothers sighed in defeat.

"Do you think Juuri would be willing? Before they wake up?" Rima's mother questioned.

"I only hope so." Shiki's mother answered.

When Shiki woke up hours later, in his own bed in his own house, he couldn't seem to remember the past few hours. He had this vague feeling that he was missing something that belonged to him, and the only thing he could really remember was the delicious aftertaste of something sweet and absolutely mouthwatering.

* * *

Touya Rima was looking through the book sent from her mother, The Life and Times of the Last Wych, when she came across a forgotten photograph that was being used as a bookmark. What was even odder than the title of the book (can't this person even spell witch right?) was the fact that she was in it (along with Shiki), and she couldn't remember it. Rima was known for her memory along with the ability to play the violin and piano. She got an A on every single test, without studying because she had such a good memory.

Looking at the photo she realized this was taken in her backyard, and Shiki and her looked about two or three. She was laying down with her hand in Shiki's hair, while his head was in her lap. They were both asleep. Rima's eyes narrowed, as the familiar unfamiliar taste of something sweet, yet bitter flooded her mouth. The heady flavor was something she was used to, whenever she was trying to remember something. She couldn't remember a time when she hadn't known this flavor. Something tickled at the back of her mind. The addictive taste was growing stronger, something it had never done.

It was pushing for her to remember something.

Rima's brows furrowed, and chased after that one little detail that seemed to elude her focus. The taste was stronger than it had ever been, and just when it reached it's peak, the gate holding back her memories broke open and she remembered everything.

Shiki biting her wrist, her, being excited at the smell of blood, even if it was her own blood, damn near attacking him, this time drinking from the jugular. Her eyes widened of her own accord, her genius mind quickly figuring out why she had forgotten. Her parents and Shiki's parents must have covered the memories so they weren't forced into a bonded relationship unless they absolutely wanted it. But she could remember that both her and Shiki and been very moody the few days after that, and only calmed down when in the presence of the other, much to there parents dismay.

She vaguely remembered throwing a vase at her mother's head when she didn't give her blood that tasted 'good'.

She had to tell Shiki. Or, she suspected, only had to show him the photograph to trigger the memory. And if not, a delightfully sinful grin crossed Rima's mouth, her blue eyes flashing with something that couldn't be defined, she could always remind him another way.

The wonderful taste was growing stronger, and she was hungry. Once she found that taste again, she was never letting go.

--

Friday evenings were always troublesome. The girls were forever proclaiming their undying love, nearly killing each other at the chance to look at the Night Class. They had all weekend to "hang out with -insert name here- when he finally asks me out!" therefore making them all the more shrill when proclaiming "-insert name here- I love you!". It didn't help that it was the last day before winter break. Normally he was indifferent, unlike Rima who wore her scorn of the pathetic girls plainly for everyone to see, but today, with the way this migraine was developing, he might just take Rima's side.

Speaking of Rima, where was she?

Barely stiffling a yawn, Shiki glanced around the common room of the Night Class dorms and couldn't see her trademark pigtails. Ichijou, seated to the left of him on the expansive couch, apparently had the same idea. "Hey, Shiki? Where's Rima? We have class in a few minutes."

Shiki shrugged, ignoring the odd looks from Aidou and Ichijou. Kain and Ruka were wrapped up in a discussion, Seiren was busy glaring at anyone who dared look at Kaname for more than a few seconds, while the aforementioned pureblood was busy talking with his bride, Yuuki. She had been turned back to her pureblood form a few months ago, and this semester started in the Night Class along with Zero. Shiki didn't even bother looking for him. It was common knowledge that he was always sent on the Level E extermination jobs. Shiki didn't really mind, it gave him more time to sleep.

Just as he was getting mentally worried, (after all have you ever heard of Shiki Senri showing emotion?) the object of his thoughts came down the stairs with her books and an envelop. She walked over to him, her pigtails bouncing, the other Night Class students moving out of her way like wolves in the presence of the alpha. She handed him the envelop, shrugging when Shiki glanced at it curiously. He didn't miss the odd glint in her eye. The others were used to their non verbal talking, and lately they hadn't been the only ones to do so. Kaname and Yuuki, it seemed, had caught on. Though, it could also be because they were the only mated pair in the entire Night Class.

"My mother wanted me to give this to you." Rima replied softly to his question, voice barely above a whisper, but he heard it clearly. Frowning softly he opened the envelop quickly as Kaname and Yuuki stood up and moved towards the doors that lead to the sunset outside. The odd taste that he had grown accustomed to filled his mouth, reminding him of something forgotten. Finding himself alone on the couch in a matter of seconds, he glanced at the photograph that fell into his lap with disinterest, before what he saw registered in his mind. Snapping his eyes back towards the photograph, the familiar pain of bloodlust quickly became apparent.

Looking up, he expected to find Rima, only to see her walking away towards a waving Yuuki. The two had grown close the past couple of months. She paused and looked over her shoulder at him, smirking, looking completely unlike the Rima he knew.

"Shiki, your going to be late…" She trailed off teasingly and passed through the doors leaving him alone. He cursed. The migraine was going to be hell today, and even worse.

All of his classes had him sitting right besides Rima. His eyes flashed red, her blood, that was so delicious, belonged to him. If he made it the day (night) without pouncing on her and drinking from her, and maybe doing some other things, it would be a miracle.

Making his way outside he caught another whiff of her scent, and didn't really remember much after that.

--

"You enjoyed yourself far to much today, you do know that, correct?" Rima couldn't think. Shiki's head was nuzzling her necking, his tongue occasionally making the trip from his mouth to her skin to taste her, and his hand was buried in her unbound hair.

Rima moaned, her head falling back on the wall that Shiki had her pushed against. Chuckling, her voice husky with hunger, "Maybe." Shiki growled darkly. His head rose, and his eyes locked onto Rima's, the silvered depths glowing a red that matched her blood. The blood that was his by right.

Neither of them could deny it. Try to deny it. As soon as he had taken her blood that day years ago, they were forever bound. Well, as long as they didn't take another vampires blood.

Another wave of bloodlust hit which left Shiki muffling his groans in Rima's neck. His hand that was currently not involved in a personal relationship with Rima's hair was gripping her upper arm tightly in a vain attempt to avoid drinking her blood right there. She deserved more than that. The entire day had been spent in a blind haze, trying to not to drain Rima (figuratively, he would never even think of that) and trying not to show what was wrong with him. The first part was maintained within his control, the second only barely. He didn't learn anything new today though, his concentration on her the entire day. He could sense that she had the same situation.

He sucked lightly on her neck. Rima purred in delight and shivered as he ran his fangs over the skin, but then growled in protest as he retracted them again.

He loved the way she reacted against him, her body fitting perfectly against his. Her blood's scent igniting his. He wanted her, period.

Rima kissed a path from his ear to his collarbone. "I never would have thought that you would be this forward with your 'affection'." Shiki hummed, teasingly biting her neck.

Rima somehow managed to pant out a complete sentence. "The memories triggered my horomones, and besides. I've always been forward with you."

Shiki paused, as his overheated brain tried to process the information. "True." He went back to her neck, seemingly content to not move forward. Rima knew what he was doing. He was trying to see how long it would take her to break.

Rima was tired of this game. 'Not long apparently.' Shiki thought wryly, as he felt her hands grasp his shoulders.

She shoved him back onto the bed. She was going to take what she wanted, because this is what she had been unknowingly waiting for. This was years in the making. She straddled him, and loved the way he was looking up at her from her black cotton sheets. He was…enthralled. Yes that was good word for it. She ducked her head down, her fangs dropping down from her gums, and bit down firmly at the junction of his neck.

She moaned in ecstasy as the taste that she had been waiting for flooded her mouth. It was made even better by knowing that the taste was Shiki. How long had she yearned for him? She purred as his blood slid down her throat, both cooling and setting fire to her taste buds.

Shiki reached up and brought Rima flush against him, urging her to drink more. The smell of blood was making his resistant weak, and her vein was practically begging for him to drink. So he did.

Their gluttony would consume them, of this he had no doubt. But, feeling the wonderful weight of her pressed on him, tasting the truth of her feelings for him in her blood, the taste didn't seem to be the only thing he wanted.

* * *

_The glutton is much more than an animal and much less than a man.- Honore de Balzac_

* * *

**A/N: **Alright! First one shot of my new series! Yep, I'm doing the overly used Seven Deadly Sins. But, I can't help it! It was too much fun. If you see anything that needs to be fixed, please point it out, and I'll fix it. By the way, saligia is a memory aid to remember the seven sins. Well the Latin names anyway. Superbia, avaritia, luxuria, invidia, gula, ira, acedia. This information came from Wikipedia, and if you think this info is incorrect, tell me. I'll fix it. **  
**

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight, I am just using the amazing characters to meet my (oft times) very insane ideas. They (the characters) belong to Matsuri Hino.

**_NEXT:_** ENVY

Please review, its that little purple button down there, and any criticism, advice, or anything like that would be nice. Also, I'm open just to talk :D


	2. Invidia

**Sin: Envy**

_INVIDIA_

* * *

_Jealousy is the fear of losing something that one has to another (possessiveness is much a common amongst the hot-blooded vampires), while Envy is typically defined as the pain or frustration of someone having something (most often times it's a someone) that you want. Though they can be used interchangeably, Envy typically involves two people, while Jealousy typically involves three._

* * *

She hated her.

Well, not so much hated.

She was jealous. Jealous that the girl who already had everything could take away the person that she had loved for years. She had the name, the looks, and the brains. Her IQ was reported at being just over 210.

Though quietly admitting to herself, Kimura Yoko never really stood a chance. She was an unsatisfying head shorter that Touya Rima, and her face was forgettable. Plain blond hair covered her scalp, and it all seemed to be the same shade. Unlike perfect Rima. Yoko scowled as she saw Rima on the dance floor, her hair strands of gold, bronze, and copper in an intricate up do. Her only asset she really thought that she might have had against Rima were her eyes, startling pale neon green. However, of course, Rima had the same eyes, except in blue.

Rima's fan club was practically drooling when she had been announced at the opening of the Kuran's annual Midsummer's Ball. She was drenched in layers of silk that dragged on the ground when she walked creating a train that was a foot long, colored a red so dark at times, it appeared black. The dress consisted of a corset that was actually black with a square neckline that had loose sleeves the same color of the skirt that fell past her hands just enough so her fingertips barely showed when her arms were straight at her sides. The skirt fell down and out just a bit, appearing slimming, but still giving enough room to move and dance in. The top skirt cut away in an upside down V in the front, revealing the underskirt to be made out of a heavy shimmery silver that reminded her of the eyes of the man that Yoko loved. There was no beading on the dress at all, almost as if Rima were saying she did not need all the complexity that had always been thought of to be in fashion.

Overall, it was a very odd fashion, and Yoko knew it would be all the rage until one of the other female aristocrats in Kaname-sama's inner circle revealed the new top fashion.

'Great. Another thing to hate about Touya Rima." She mentally slapped herself. "No! I'm jealous, I don't hate her.' Yoko scowled down at her own elegantly beaded emerald dress. She had begged her mother to have the dress tailored and colored to bring out her eyes. However, she started to wish that she had gone with her mother's suggestion of a dark rose color.

She heard muttering in the circle surrounding the dance floor, the vampires forever looking in on the more powerful specimens of their species seemingly indifferent to the world. Gulping, she almost didn't look. Then she heard, "I wonder when they'll have the mating ceremony?"

"You mean the public mating ceremony." The other gossiper shot back, with a knowing air. "I wouldn't be surprised to find that they've been mated already. I mean, look! Communication like that usually only comes from mated pairs."

"Considering their not even together yet?"

"Just so far as we know. We'll probably find out soon."

She looked up just in time to see Shiki Senri twirl Touya Rima around the floor in an intricate dance that Yoko did not even bother trying to name. Both of their eyes never left each other, they body language easily being interpreted. They didn't care about anybody else in that ballroom.

For years, she had been trying vainly to stick to her name that her parents had given her. After all, Yoko meant positive. To Yoko, indulging in hate or anger lead indefinitely to self-pity and negative thoughts. She had seen it happen to mother, and she had refused to allow it to happen to her. Suddenly, Yoko got over her vow of niceness.

Yoko was jealous of Rima. Just jealous enough to hate.

Her dream crumbling before her eyes.

--

Asamizu Juro hated Shiki Senri.

No one knew of this of course, because one did not just hate one of the most influential people in the court publicly. He liked to think that he envied him more than he hated him, but that changed when he was announced at the Midsummer's Ball with none other than Touya Rima.

Growling, the twenty four year old realized that he had felt like this for over seven years. Felt like he was the person who should be beside the gorgeous blond. Of course, probably about half of the men in the room felt that, but that was based on looks alone.

His only true competition, in his mind, was Shiki Senri. While Juro was tall, taller than most low ranking noble vampires (which were, according to his status as a self made baron, the only nobles that he could socialize with regularly. Unless personally invited by a high-ranking noble of course.) Senri was still a good three inches on him.

His chestnut colored hair was short and spiky, but yet still long enough for one to run their hands through. Or so he had overheard from the gossiping lower nobles. His brown eyes narrowed dangerously as he spotted his silvered eyed rival twirl the girl he had been desiring to be in his bed around the dance floor. He scowled at the thought that she had possibly been in someone else's bed. After all, Senri certainly had plenty of opportunity. He had a world famous face, and the money and fame that came from his name, partly his own doing and partly his mother's acting. He was clad in traditional black robes, plus a deep red shirt and black slacks.

Juro sighed just thinking about it. He was an obviously self-made important person, as one could easily see from the finery that he obviously wove around both himself and his possessions. Rima and Senri came from an entirely different level, important from the day they were born. Hell, Senri was even cousin to a pureblood! One could actually taste some of that in the air, the smell that screamed that a vampire was powerful.

In addition, even if he did manage to make Rima fall for him, proper etiquette defined that she must mate someone of equal or more status as her. That only left a few options, as she was born so high on the social hierarchy.

Therefore, he sat back into the plush chairs of the expansive Kuran ballroom, and let the envy roll over him in waves, as his eyes never left the pair that obviously dominated the dance floor.

And he was not talking about Kuran Kaname and his beautiful pureblooded sister.

His dream crumbling before his eyes.

* * *

The conversation was silent, just like it had always been since they were just seven. They could probably go without speaking for days, which was amazing considering that they were _only _friends. That level of communication usually only consisted among mates.

Rima, amused, looked into Shiki's eyes. The rest of his face was blank, so only one skilled at reading what was not there could see the amusement reflected back at her. She knew that he saw the exact same thing in his face.

She could feel the envy surrounding them, and she didn't care.

The whole ballroom was whispering about them, how they had been secretly mated with one of the two Kurans presiding. 'Fools.' Rima scoffed. If she had been mated, there would have been a ring on the forefinger of her left hand and the thumb of her right.

Tradition dictated it, and once two vampires were mated, those rings would never come off, unless one spouse was unfaithful. Plus, if she were a newly mated vampire, her pheromones would have been reeking, throwing off the warning to males that she was taken and that no female could touch her mate.

Also, Shiki would be snarling at any male that looked at her, even a pureblood. 'Good thing that hadn't happened.' Rima thought wryly in her head, knowing Shiki was experiencing nearly the same thought. 'Every man would be dead, and every female would be dead as well. They cannot take their eyes off us.' Rima felt a glow of a job well done begin to grow in her chest, the same feeling after seeing a modeling job finished and her face plastered on magazine covers and billboards alike. The feeling of influencing other people's decisions with something as trivial as clothing.

The style had been a good choice then.

It gave her an odd source of fun, to see others beneath her. After all, she was basically royalty. She saw Shiki's full lips curve into a smile that was barely there, and she zeroed in on them so fast her head spun. All previous thoughts fled her head at the hint of a smile from this man. Her own lips lifted in response. She could almost physically _feel_ the pleasure from him.

Shiki spun her again, Rima thought just so he could feel her pressed flush against him when he pulled her back in. When he spun her back, their positions landed them directly facing the two people who, more than the others of both the human and vampire race, had been pining for other. Their so-called enemies.

For Rima, her eyes connected with the neon green of Kimura Yoko.

For Shiki, Rima just instinctively knew, his eyes landed on hateful eyes of Asamizu Juro.

She didn't know when the telepathy started, all she knew was that when she and Shiki had first meet, there thoughts and feelings had intertwined. Nothing had separated them to this day, and nothing ever would. Rima never was sure when she picked up on that last thought, but when she heard it (either coming from her or Shiki, sometimes telling them apart was near impossible.) she had known it to be true. So it wasn't much of a surprise when she knew that she had somehow ended up looking at Yoko, and she knew that Shiki was looking at Juro.

She met the cool eyes, and saw the jealousy lurking there. It had been obvious for years, that she wanted someone that she couldn't have. She could do nothing, and it amused Rima greatly.

Their souls were intertwined, forged as one at the dawn of time, separated and then brought back together. She felt whole, completed, when she was in Shiki's arms. She was happy, joyful, lustful, all number of emotions, and he felt the same.

Rima smirked at the jealous lesser noble. The fool. You never take something that belonged to Touya Rima away from her.

And Shiki was most undoubtedly _hers_. Just like, she was _his_. Completely and utterly.

--

Shiki's cool silver eyes met Rima's, amused at seeing the faint flicker of vindictive pleasure within the endless blue depths. While she hid it better than Ruka, much better, it still didn't change the fact that Rima liked to lord over people. It amused her, and it amused him to see her all giggly, that she could influence other people's choices by wearing something as unimportant as clothes. Clothes weren't the only thing either. So, more fun for Rima, with more despair from the lesser nobles.

Another thing that amused him besides Rima's unnaturally good mood was that he could hear every single whisper that was being said. Most of them revolved around Rima and himself, with a good amount still chattering about the recent mating of Kaname and Yuuki. The noble vampires were even worse than the human paparazzi. There were always constant rumors about who was the next young couple to take the big plunge and dedicate their blood and body to another vampire. Since Kaname and Yuuki had finally done it, thus removing both of them from the market, all eyes had turned to them. Much to the relief of Aidou and Yori, who had planned to be mated secretly without anyone knowing that they were 'dating', which would have been scandalous considering the class difference.

Yori had just been introduced to the noble class this year, and was still getting used to all of the parties and prying eyes. Previously she had been a part of a simple middle class vampire family who was attacked by a rouge newborn. Aidou and Kain had been called to clean up the mess and Aidou discovered Yori alive and barely awake. Their eyes met and they had been joined at the hip ever since.

"You mean the public mating ceremony?"

His eyes followed the pair that were loudly debating. He didn't know whom they were talking about until the person said their peace. "I wouldn't be surprised to find that they've been mated already. I mean, look! Communication like that usually only comes from mated pairs." He smirked and followed the dance by twirling Rima. He didn't even know why he bothered trying to be surprised anymore. Most everything seemed to revolve around him and Rima nowadays. They had gotten over the whole Yori moving up a few classes scandal rather quickly. It may have been because Aidou snarled at a few people, but that did not matter. Besides, they didn't annoy him that much.

He pulled Rima close after she finished her elaborate twirl, sending a wave of contentedness as he heard Rima's thought of him overly spinning her.

His eyes met the hatefully brown eyes of Azamizu Juro.

The man wasn't all the bad, its just that Shiki hated him for thinking that he could ever think of touching something as divine as Rima. When it was so obvious, even if she didn't have the two rings of a taken female, that _she was his. _His and his alone.

Shiki smirked, a hint of fang just showing. A warning, not to touch. From the glare that he was receiving, Shiki wasn't quite sure Juro got the message. He shrugged mentally.

'That's alright. I wouldn't mind really killing someone over Rima.'

Their eyes met.

Blue on silver.

Green despairing with hate._ Envy..._

Silver on blue.

Brown turning away with disgust. _Jealousy..._

Time to give them something to really envy.

Their lips met, and the rumors ceased.

* * *

_People will always talk about you, especially when they envy you and the life you live. Let them... you affected their lives, they didn't affect yours.- Anonymous_

* * *

**A/N: **And there you have it! The next chapter of my epic (not) series! How did you like it? Kinda a AU-ish theme here. I like it, and I'll prob use it later, just not in this story. I would love to hear. See, there is this magical little lavender, or I've heard it called periwinkle, button down there. Click that, type some words of (hopefully) good stuff, and click favorite stories! Please??

Anywho, so, I have a poll up on my profile. Its asking weather you would want to see a Kaname/Yuuki, Aidou/Yori, or Kain/Ruka fic. I would use the little bit of K/Y I set up in the previous one-shot if that were to be chosen while I would use the A/Y interaction found in this chapter. I haven't decided about how I'm going to interact Kain and Ruka yet, but no worries!

On another note, the next one might be a little slow. See me, being the klutz I am, dropped a glass over the weekend and cut the base of my thumb so bad I needed ten stitches and my doctor was worried that I might lose my right thumb! Scary right? So, I'm sneaking this chapter up, because it absolutely _sucks_ to type and my parents know this, and they know I'm addicted to the computer. They've been watching me like hawks! So, give me about two weeks! I'll still be on to answer e-mail and that stuff, so I'll be able to read all the reviews again! I was so excited! I got nine reviews and something like 160 hits.

EDITED: 7.15.08

Disclaimer_: _Vampire Knight in no way belongs to me. Everything mentioned in this story belongs to its rightful owners. Which means I get Yoko and Juro!

_**NEXT: **_Sloth


	3. Acedia

**Sin: Sloth**

_ACEDIA_

* * *

_The modern sin of sloth is simply an unwillingness to act, to care, or just plain indifference (often called laziness). However, vampires are not slothful creatures by nature, despite modern understanding. Not taking into account a few certain individuals of course. _

* * *

Shiki had just wanted a glass of water. But no, Fate yelled. I don't want you to be hydrated and then fall back into a blissfully wonderful sleep. Instead of seeing a empty, bare hallway that lead to the stairs which lead to another hallway, which had many doors all leading to bedrooms with beds (wonderful, soft, comfortable beds! with lots of pillows...), Shiki saw Kain. And Aidou. And Ichijou.

Ichijou had his sword. And his smile. You cannot forget about his awesome smile.

Now, Shiki didn't like to swear. Well, no actually that's a lie. He didn't like to swear when he was sober. He didn't like to swear when he was fully rested, ie: not sleep deprived. He believed it a crude, human way of explaining something.

'Fuck.' Shiki was sleep deprived. And maybe a tiny bit drunk.

He turned on his heel, hoping in a vain desperate plea that the three hadn't seen him. After all, the hall was fairly long, it was fairly dark (considering it was the beginning of a new day in the middle of winter. All that light shining on the white brightness of the snow, ick.), and they had both just turned the corners, entering at opposite ends of the hallway. 'Do you really think that that is going to work?' Even the voice in his head sounded tired and monotonous. 'Shut the fuck up and run you bastard! I want sleep, not to go hunting after some stupid Level E!' And hormonal.

Wow he really needed sleep.

Shiki decided quickly. The odds of him making it up into one of the bedrooms quicker than they (Kain, Aidou, and Ichijou that is) could hear him pounding up the stairs were about 1 out of 13. Of course, that factored in the knowledge that they hadn't seen him. And since Fate hated him, they had seen him.

The odds were now: Shiki being screwed over completely.

"Shiki!" Ichijou called out cheerfully. Shiki's hand made an odd motion in the air. One would think that he was strangling an invisible someone. 'Ten guesses who that was?' The voice was back, sleep deprived as ever. Now it even sounded like his best friend. 'Run! Unless he orders you back, you can't do anything!' Wow, it even had the same pitch and volume as an angry Rima did.

"Ready to go hunting?" Aidou asked grinning wildly and watching Shiki's hand knowingly, the same actions having previously been done by him when he was caught by Ichijou. His voice had the smug tone of his voice that said he was hiding something.  
The strangling stopped.

'Idiot.'

Shiki hated that voice.

"Hunting?" Shiki asked tiredly. Ok, so maybe he was faking tiredness a little bit, but that didn't matter! "Aren't you three capable, not to mention noble, vampires? Why in the hell would you need four to go hunting?"

Kain's cool voice broke in for the first time. "It's a nest, Shiki." Shiki's eyebrows rose.

"A nest?"

A nod. "Kaname-sama's sources estimate the numbers to be around eighteen or twenty. There seems to be a leader as well."

"A leader?" Shiki and Aidou asked together, their voices raised with suspicion. It seems Aidou wasn't as informed as he thought.

"Level E's never move in packs, usually only in twos or threes." Aidou stated coldy, replaying a common known fact that was learned in grade school. "They also never ever have a defined leader."

"Well, these guys do. And better yet. The leader in question?" Ichijou said, that damned smile still dancing upon his mouth. "Yeah, he's not a Level E."

"Ok, now your just screwing with us." Shiki was slanted a look from all three of the male vampires. "I'm sleep deprived, and if my suspicions are correct about what drink Rima gave me last night, a little drunk. So sue me." His words were proven correct when he pouted.

"Ignoring that. And no, I'm not screwing with you. Ruka and Seiren scouted it out, and barely came out with their bodies intact." Ichijou said drawing his sword, his gaze looking over the flawless steel like a proud parent looking at their favorite child. He sighed and sheathed the sword, his face looking almost regretful.

"Why couldn't I scout?" Aidou pouted, his pout looking much more real than Shiki's. Obviously, he had more practice. Kain sighed, his head in his hand. Obviously, he wished he didn't have a cousin so childish.

"Because, Seiren must attend a social function with Kaname-sama and Yuuki-sama tonight. Ruka has been on the last five hunts and Kaname-sama and I both agree that she could use some rest. So they get the easy jobs." Ichijou said his eyes for once showing an emotion other than happiness. They were grave with concern for Ruka. Shiki glanced unnoticeably in Kain's direction, and not surprised to see his jaw clenched hard (he didn't know teeth could creak) and his gaze focused slightly upward. Ruka had been in a noticeable slump. She wasn't as vindictive as usual, and she didn't pick fights with Aidou.

Aidou and Ichijou were busy arguing about something else, Shiki vaguely heard the word pineapple, which left him just enough time to question Kain quietly.

"Kain?" Shiki asked softly, knowing his tone of voice reflected his question clearly enough. Besides, he wanted to get back to his bed. Well. Actually it was-  
Kain sighed which brought Shiki out of his reflective moment. "I'll talk to her after we get back." Kain said finally, his tone broking no argument. His unspoken words came in loud and clear, 'I don't want to talk about it.' Shiki's head tilted for a brief moment, his gaze narrowed. Everyone one had been dieing to figure out what was between them.

"Alright!" Ichijou clapped excitedly, "It's settled then! We leave now, Aidou, and no you cannot have the pineapple."

"But I was going to eat it! Then you caught me! I'm hungry dammit!"

"And, whose vice-president here?" Came the condescending reply. Shiki and Kain both smirked at Aidou's defeated reply. Aidou suddenly straightened, his eyes suspicious.

"Ok, I get Seiren and Ruka. But what about Rima? If there really are how many you say there are, then we could really use her help on the sword." Ichijou paused thinking.

"Hm...your right. Yuuki requested Rima stay out of it, though she never told me why." Ichijou said looking guilty for some reason. Shiki's gaze narrowed thoughtfully. "But, we could certainly use the help." He sighed, his gaze far away. "Alright. Shiki go get her, and be down in five minutes."

"Lovely," Shiki said dryly. "That means I get to put a shirt on." He had thrown on the pair of jeans he had gotten from his last job with Rima over the boxers that he slept in during the winter. The Moon Dorm housekeepers had a problem with over heating the rooms during the colder months. Kain laughed wryly when he noticed the others expressions. It seemed that he was the only one who had noticed Shiki's state of undress.

Shiki sighed and trotted up the steps dully. When he reached the top of the stairs he paused (taking this golden opportunity to yawn widely, showing just a hing of fang) and then proceeded to one of the rooms at the very end of the long hallway. It was arranged by blood purity. The purer the blood, the farther down, meaning all that much closer to Kaname and Yuuki. Since Shiki was their cousin, he ranked the highest, and contrary to popular belief (mainly people who hadn't heard the name) Rima was right up there with him, Aidou, Kain, Ichijou, Ruka, and Seiren.

He decided to go into Rima's room first and getting the waking of the Touya over with, before going into his and Ichijou's room to pick up that shirt of his. He had routinely heard others complain over the fact that Rima was the only one to have a single room. Even Kaname's inner circle bunked down with another, simply because there just wasn't enough room. The two cousins got a room together, Kain had looked very tired when he heard that fact, but then seemed to cheer up when he found out Ruka and Seiren were right across the hall. Ichijou, as vice-president, and Shiki, as closest blood relative (besides Yuuki) were in the same room closest to Kaname.

Rima, however, was special.

Firstly, she was closest to Shiki in relation to a pureblood, and as such deserved the correct position of ranking. Her room was right across from Shiki's, much to his delight. Secondly, the space that would have been used for a roommate was taken up by a white baby grand piano that had cost her a small fortune. But, she had gotten back her money quickly, and then some, at the first concert she had played. She had attracted agents from both species, vampires and humans alike. She was eight. Two years later, she repeated the performance except now with a violin.

Plus, she routinely played both human music (which was pleasent on the ears of a vampire, but not beautiful) and music created by her. The sounds of her music could often be heard floating around the dorm, so what complaints there originally were quickly dispersed when they heard her play.

Not even bothering to knock, Shiki walked into Rima's room, closing the door quietly behind him. Her piano was in front of the window, his easels and paints cluttered beside it. Shiki smirked looking at finished paintings with his messy scrawl in the bottom left corner. His eyes softened as he saw Rima in her huge bed with the lone sheet that she slept with intertwined with her legs.

He walked over to her, careful to keep his steps gentle so Rima wouldn't wake up too violently. Though, lately she had been in bed more than usual. He sat on the side closest to Rima, laying his head on her shoulder. She moaned quietly, and Shiki kissed her lightly directly under her jaw. He felt her amusement, and slight anger at being woken up.

"Hmm...Shiki?" Rima said her eyes opening slowly. She groaned as she looked at the clock on her beside table. "Its eight, and we shouldn't be up." Shiki stood up and started looking for her swords. She watched him with a half peeved, half amused smile on her face. Her smile grew as she saw him wearing the jeans that they received from their last shoot. Being a top model had its perks. His chest bare, (how she loved his chest! It was toned and defined, even beyond the usual vampire standard) and his feet as well, the jeans hung low on his hips, showing his sharp hip bones and the waist band of his black boxers. "What took you so long? I thought you went to get a glass of water." She glared. "The bed was cold."

Shiki found her swords. Holding them up triumphantly, he walked over to her. Softly, he muttered, "Sorry sleeping beauty. We're going a hunting." He kissed her gently, ignoring the glare directed at him for the nickname.

Rima hummed pleasurably, dragging Shiki backwards, back towards the bed. "Yeah, I heard. Three should be enough..." She trailed off sleepily as she reached the bed and fell back, Shiki's comfortable weight pressed down on her.

He laughed lowly, burrowing his nose in her neck. "Love? Its a nest of twenty Level E, with a non-Level E leader."

Rima sighed. "I thought Yuuki wasn't going to send me out?"

"Yeah, but Ichijou decided that it was better to have you out. What's wrong Rima?" There was a barely discernible hint of panic in his voice and Rima hurried to shush him.

"It would seem that slothfulness is in your blood. My body is trying to cope with it. That's why your more active than usual. Plus I went on three hunts last week." Shiki chuckled dryly.

"Yeah, well. Ichijou sent me to get you in five minutes. Its been four." Rima's foot found his stomach, and his butt found the floor. His eyes found Rima's in a death glare.

Sigh. Even lazy she could still be so demanding.

* * *

Exactly fifty five seconds later, Shiki and Rima promptly arrived at the front doors of the dorms. Both fully clothed, Shiki finally managed to find a shirt that wasn't completely dirty. Not surprisingly, it was in Rima's room. They had been having this 'affair' for about a week, with only Ichijou, Kaname, and Yuuki finding out. Shiki didn't even really sleep in his and Ichijou's room, he just went in when they all went to bed to make appear that he still slept there. Rima's bed was more comfortable anyways. Rima expected someone to figure it out soon though. She actually expected Ichijou to shout it out to the world.

'Hey world! Shiki Senri and Touya Rima are sleeping together!' She groaned mentally. 'That would be a fun conversation.' Shiki glanced at her from the corner of his eye, smirking.

Rima didn't look a thing out of the ordinary, despite her proclamations of her being tired and her unwillingness to do anything. Her hair was in their trademark style, her coat and jeans immaculate, and her new expensive black leather knee high boots were on her gorgeous feet. Her twin swords were hidden underneath her coat. She and Ichijou were the only ones to openly carry weapons.

"How far away is it?" Kain asked coolly, his hands deep in the pockets of his coat.

Insert dazzling smile. "Not far. If we run, five, ten minutes max." With a nod, they all stepped out into the blinding winter light. Rima, Shiki, and Aidou all pulled out sunglasses simultaneously, while leaving Kain and Ichijou wincing in the bright light.

"Rima?" Aidou asked glancing at her. "New aviators?" She nodded, and he could only assume they were from that one company she had shot for.

"Right. Onwards!" Ichijou said cheerfully (trying vainly to pretend that the sun didn't affect him), and then he started to run, his open coat trailing behind him as he disappeared from human eyes. The four followed.

Their eyes were tinted red, their blood pounded, muscles twitched in anticipation. Vampires lived for the hunt, and what a hunt this one would prove to be.

Even the lazybones could not resist the call to arms.

--

It was a run down apartment building in downtown. It was scheduled for demolition within the next few weeks, and it was abandoned. Perfect place for a nest of unruly Level E's. Aidou wrinkled his nose a little at the smell, but the same blank face stayed on.

"This is it." Ichijou said, his smile for once not on his face. "Hm. Middle of downtown, plenty of humans around." He unsheathed his sword and walked cautiously in the front door. Rima followed, along with Aidou with Shiki and Kain bringing up the rear. Rima stopped just inside the threshold. She breathed deeply, and swore softly.

"There's about twenty five, Ichijou. Five each." She sighed, and shrugged out of her coat leaving it to land softly on the dusty ground. She drew her swords, leaving the sheaths on her coat. Stepping forward she stated firmly, "Lets get this over with. I wanna go to bed."

"Right." Ichijou said, once again in control. "Clean out the first floor, then once everyone says its clear, move on up. There are five floors, including the roof. Kaname would like to keep the leader alive for trial, but he ordered to kill if necessary. Understand?"

"Aye."

"Yes sir."

"Sure."

The distinct sound of a sword slicing thru flesh rang out quietly. "One down, twenty four to go."

It took five minutes to clear the first floor, with only five more E's being killed. Shiki quickly came up with a reason when they heard quiet footsteps in the stairwell. "Their running." He stated quietly.

Taking another thirty minutes, they systematically cleared out the last three floors, taking out seventeen more E's. "He must be on the roof." Kain said coldly, a cut from his forehead trailing a line of blood down his cheek. They were all similarly wounded, only minor stuff so far. Rima went first, kicking down the door, both her swords stained with blood, her blue eyes nearly red.

"Touya Rima, Level B. By order of Level A Pureblood Kuran Kaname and Kuran Yuuki, you are to come with us to be put on trial for improper disposal of a number of Level E." She stated, glancing around warily. Making eye contact with Shiki she nodded, indicating it was clear for now.

An ice spear shot past her right ear, causing her to turn and duck. She blindly thrust out her sword, and stood up after she heard the sounds of a Level E dieing. Aidou's spear was plunged in his face, with Rima's sword gutting him. Kain stepped forward and burned the body. "Two more left. Kain, Aidou find the last E. We'll take the leader." With a nod they all separated.

The roof wasn't all that large, and as such, it didn't take all that long to find the leader of the nest. He was under the only outcropping of shade available. What shocked them the most was that all three of the nobles recognized him. He was a lower Level B, almost near a Level C, and his name was Kasuria Ornai. Average height, with an average coloring he wasn't all the powerful.

Ichijou lunged forward, hoping to still have the advantage of surprise, but then got knocked back as two Level E's stood in front of Orani. He smiled, fangs fully protruding. "Did you really think it would be that easy, Ichijou Takuma?" The other E attacked Shiki leaving Rima to deal with Orani who had drawn a sword as well. "Touya Rima. I havn't seen you since-" He was cut off as Rima, bored with talking, attacked suddenly. Ichijou and Shiki soon joined her, with Kain and Aidou, having finished with the E and hearing the commotion, they quickly finished the short fight. Rima got the honor of the knock out blow, and Kain got the honor of carrying him back.

Yawning they all trudged up the stairs, Aidou peeling off into his room with Kain hesitating for a few second before quietly knocking on Ruka's door. Ichijou and Shiki continued up to Kaname and Yuuki's room while Rima gladly pushed in her door and and fell into her bed. It was nine in the morning and she had only gotten two hours of sleep. Sleep was just about to claim her when her door opened and Shiki's form was quietly walking to her side. Chuckling softly, he stripped her of her shirt and jeans, leaving her only in her undershirt, bra, and panties. He slipped out of his jeans and shirt, and fell in beside her moaning in contentment when curled into his chest.

"I thought you went with Ichijou to put Orani on trial." She said sleepily running her cool hands over his warm chest.

"Yeah, but he told me to go ahead and curl up with you." Shiki smiled at her purr of laughter. Her hands reached his upper arm where he had slight cut from the fight with Orani.

She glared at him. "Your hurt. Why didn't you tell me?" He mumbled through an inchoherent reply, his laziness showing itself again. With her face pressed against his chest he felt her smile. She rolled on her back dragging Shiki on top of her. He didn't protest, settling his lean length against her warm stomach. "Drink. You'll heal faster, and besides. I always sleep better when you drink." She smiled and Shiki could hardly resist.

Hours later, when it was night and everyone decided to go down for a swim at the lake, no one could find Shiki or Rima. Yuuki smiled secretly and told them to let them be.

It was the weekend after all.

* * *

_Nothing irritates me more than chronic laziness in others. Mind you, it's only mental sloth I object to. Physical sloth can be heavenly.__- Elizabeth Hurley_

* * *

**A/N: **Done! My parents are letting me type again, huzzah! Well, whatcha think? Did I live up to your expectations of sloth? Personally, I like it, and not because its the longest think I've EVER written. Its like 3500 words or sumthing I dunno. As always, tell me what you think and if you see anything wrong with grammer or spelling as such, please tell me! I won't hesitate to fix it. Sorry about the crappy fight scene. I found out I can't write a good fight scene to save my life. I'll have to work on that XD

Disclaimer: Yesh! I've told you! I don't own Vampire Knight! I own Kasuria Orani (though why anyone would want to, I don't know).

**_NEXT: _**Greed

Btw, has anyone seen Hellboy II? OMGJDLSJLFJSLEFjslfjdksjfdsjlfjesoi! I loved that movie! It was so freaking awesome! I was having flashbacks to reading about Kaname and Yuuki being related though, cuz of Nuada and Nuala. It seems I like siblings together with mythical creatures XD.


	4. Avaritia

_**Sin: Greed**_

_AVARITIA_

_

* * *

The sin of greed is defined by the selfish pursuit of money, power, food (blood), or other possessions. This is especially true when this pursuit denies the same goods to others. A man could sell his family, his honor, and his soul just to have it all and not once would he look back in regret or remorse. Greed is often closely associated with envy, lust, and gluttony.

* * *

_

The night was young, and they were hunting. Though this prey was not of the human kind that vampires such as themselves sought out. No, this prey was jewelry. Very shiny jewelry. Very shiny _expensive _jewelry.

Oh, and kill the old man who owns said pretty jewelry so he doesn't come after them guns blazing and such. Rima grimaced behind her high powered rifle, the scope fixed on the top floor of the building next to them, which was the office of Mr. Vincent Adams. It was so annoying when they tried to take back what they rightfully stole. Humans were so greedy.

Though, vampires were too.

Her partner and mate Shiki Senri settled down beside her with a pair of high powered binoculars. He glanced through them quickly, and then leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"What do we have?" He said professionally, yet unable to keep the warmth that always came when he spoke with her from disappearing completely. Rima slanted him a look, and grinned showing both of her completely elongated fangs.

She chuckled huskily. "Remember the Mizuniko job about three months back?" She felt Shiki's nod more than she saw it and continued. "I'm guessing Adams heard about the security, because he has something almost exactly the same. Ten guards on the roof, changed every fifteen minutes, and I've seen them all twice so far in the two hours we've been here, so forty in all. Also, they've got infrared cameras, motion monitors, and dogs. German shepherds with a cross of doberman I believe."

"Hm…I like dogs."

"Which is why you'll be taking care of them while I knock out all the guards and such. There are twenty handlers, with a dog each. Ten up top on the roof that are there at all times, ten with Adams. Adams also has ten personal bodyguards on him at all times. Those windows really help." She was talking about the one pane of glass that made up two out of the four walls of Adams office. "Anyway, from they way they move, I guessed they had gone rouge."

"Rouge from what?" Shiki picked up his binoculars and quickly spotting what Rima was saying. "Their not from us. I don't recognize them."

"Patience. I was actually wrong, their still part of a company. Check out the inside of their right wrist." Shiki adjusted the focus and waited a few seconds before one of the wrists were exposed. His eyes narrowed.

"Huh. A snake." He dropped the binoculars. "What in the hell is the Coil doing here?"

Rima shrugged and went back to watching Adams pace around his office. "Call Kaname-sama. Ask him what he wants done about the Coil. I'm sure the Madly Blooming Princess would hate for us to cut down her prized assassins against orders. Also, check his target body count, and if he wants blood or not." He touched her shoulder, which was his silent yes. She shivered slightly, and not from the wind currently buffering the forty story skyscraper. Shiki's teeth were a flash of white as he smirked. He stealthily moved over to the utility shed that had doubled as their communication center for the night.

As Shiki dialed in over a secured land line Rima went back to observing Adams. Kaname-sama had give them this mission three days ago, telling them that all the mattered was getting the jewelry and killing Adams. They could do it however they wanted. Rima grinned as she saw Adams talk to the only female bodyguard, the obvious leader. He gave this mission to them as a reward, and Rima intended to use it to its fullest. Now, all she needed was Kaname-sama's permission.

As she heard the connection pick up, she picked up her black clad form and crouched down by Shiki, the sent of his blood wafting over to Rima and making her shift uncomfortably.

Shiki glanced over, his eyes telling her that this was her punishment for not taking her blood tablet this morning. She glared back, silently telling him that she was busy with other things dammit and he should know because he was there. He smirked and turned back to the screen which now showed not only Kaname's face but that of his mate and sister Yuuki. Kaname barely got in a hello (a nod) before Yuuki burst in.

"Rima! Shiki!" Yuuki cried, bringing her grinning face closer to the screen and waving heartily. "How's the hit going?" Yuuki's childlike behavior and her kindness often made people think that she was something other than what she was. She was in actuality, one of the top agents of the Argent, and since she was a pureblood vampire, that only increased her abilities. Basically she was far from innocent, yet she was innocent at the same time.

Rima said hello, then, totally ignoring Yuuki so as not to be dragged into a conversation about their newest shoot for the cover of _VVouge (Vampire Vouge),_ pulled out both of Shiki and her's weapons, going over each of them carefully and precisely to make sure they were in working order.

Shiki started in quickly before Yuuki, who was one of Rima's best friends, could start talking about something completely meaningless not concerning the mission. "The hit is going fine Yuuki-sama, we just wanted to ask Kaname-sama what his target body count is, and if he wanted blood or not." He purposely left the part about the vampire bodyguards out.

Kaname's eyes narrowed slightly, no doubt knowing that he was leaving something out.

"Target body count is none, and no we don't need any blood. Takuma and Seiren are bringing in more than enough to make a years worth of tablets. Now, about that other thing…" He trailed off, looking meaningfully between the two, and watching in amusement as they both froze.

"Well Kaname-sama, the target hired personal bodyguards. Their from the Coil." Both of the Kurans stilled slightly in surprise, and Yuuki turned to her brother with a silent question, wide eyes, and a hidden conniving grin. Kaname didn't even seem to think.

He looked back at Shiki and grinned. "Well then. The body count now consists of the guards, the target, and everyone else that he has hired. We can only assume since Shizuka is handling one part of the guard assignment, that she is handling the other parts. Correct?"

They both nodded, and Rima beamed. "Bye Yuuki-sama!" She waved, and then cut the connection.

He turned towards her, his silver eyes sharp in the moonlight, and stated blandly. "You recognized one of them."

She grinned. "Guess who…and where she is, he's only a few steps behind. I really wanted to end this game a few months ago, but then they got away."

As the cloud cover shifted, covering the moon, Rima expression and body shifted. She took his hand and dragged him deeper into the shadows to where a corner was set up with blankets and a pillow. This is where they slept in the daytime when they didn't need to do surveillance. Adams was a vampire as well, so he slept in the day. "We still have an hour until we really start the mission." She grinned wickedly, blue eyes glinting with a lust that had nothing to do with blood, but usually incorporated it in some way.

Shiki smirked once more (did she ever get tired of that smirk?) as he prowled forward and pushed Rima down onto the blankets, covering her hungry mouth with his.

* * *

Nakamura Leiko was not having a good day. Actually, a good week would be a better estimate.

First, she was woken up at the crack of dawn (dusk) to be ordered by Hiou Shizuka herself to lead a job. Even better, her mate, Shouji Zanebono, was to accompany her along with an entire security detail. _An entire detail_. That was eighty men, plus twenty dogs, and the client must really been rolling in dough, because he also ordered the best of everything for the equipment. But then, she had found out that while she was ordered to lead it, she wouldn't be the top dog. She was to take orders from another anonymous source that was one of Shizuka-sama's favourites. Even though this was logical, considering she shouldn't even be leading a detail after all she was only two hundred in human years which was about a twenty year old vampire, she was still angered. After all she had the most missions ever finished on time, nay, before the time was up! Her name was up top of the kill list as well.

Second, that same client that she was to be protecting (the good thing was that she only had to guard him, some American named Vincent Adams, for a week. Which in itself was odd, since he paid for a few month's worth of protection.) was stuffy, uptight, and all together boring. Though he was smart, that much was obvious just by looking in his piggy little eyes of his. Plus, he kept coming on to her (though it was pretty obvious why), which was annoying and causing Zanebono to growl every time that he was around her. She eventually had to separate her mate and the client, which meant that Zanebono was away from her as well, since she was guarding Adams nearly sixteen hours a day, the other hours spent sleeping.

Thirdly, Shiki and Touya happened. It had started about twenty years ago, which would have made Leiko about eighteen in human years, and it had escalated ever since then. It had started on a simple smash and grab job, her first with the Coil, and she had Zanebono with her as the senior agent. The Argent agents, Shiki and Touya, had beat them there, but they hadn't been expecting another agency there, especially the Coil. The delicate balance between the two warring fractions had tipped towards war, until Shizuka and Kaname settled things down into an uneasy peace.

But, while the tension between the Arget and the Coil was smoothed over, the rivalry between the two pair of agents had ignited, and so far, refused to be extinguished. She had gotten the target the first time, but they got her sword and gun. It had been a game of cat and mouse ever since then, and now it was turning deadly. All four knew that soon, this game would end in death.

"Sir," she grimaced mentally. Why in the hell was this weakling almost top dog? Was he so scared that he had to hind behind a veil of isolation to protect himself? "Why again are we risking this many men, good men, for this piece of scrap metal? I feel no Enchantments, nor any Power or history from it." She was referring to the necklace, not the client. Maybe.

The air besides her left ear crackled with the feel of Power. Another thing, his Power held absolutely no sense of well...power. It felt weak, almost sickly. A dry voice, fueled by the Enchantment, seemed to speak dead in her ear. "Because, Agent Nakamura, this necklace used to belong to one of the Kuran's favourite agents family. They will obviously try to take it back, but, if we have men stationed here, and they are attacked, without permission from Shizuka-sama. Well, that would be a just cause for war, no?" Leiko's already slow moving blood froze in shock. He chuckled, his computer generated voice crackling harshly in her ear, not helping Leiko's suddenly nauseous stomach. "Don't worry. We will pull both you and Agent Shouji out before the plan is launched. After all, your the only ones worth saving."

She may be an assasin, but she firmly believed that innocent lives were to be spared. This greedy arguments between Shizuka and the Kurans were insane, being fueled mostly by the Madly Blooming Princess herself. Leiko suddenly decided that if she made it out of the night alive, she would go rouge from the Coil and take her mate with her.

The night had only begun, but Leiko wished for the life giving rays of the sun, and atonement for the hideous crime she would _might_ commit in less than hours.

* * *

They had started at the top, and worked their way down.

The top guys were always the easiest, and Shiki had the dogs taken care of almost as soon as his custom made black leather shoes hit the tiled roof. He had sent out a sleep Enchantment, causing all animals to drop down, dead to the rest of the world for the next hour. Kaname never said anything about the animals. The guards were dispatched of just as easily, as they were all low-ranking vampires. Rima just sent out a blinding Spell, and then drew her swords over their throats easily. They felt almost no pain, and there was almost no sound. Moving quickly, and silently, they left the bodies to be found at a later date, only taking their time to mark them each with the signet of the Argent. A flying falcon, claws outstretched.

Rima moved over to ventilation shaft, and motioned for Shiki to slide along side her. She opened the sleek black bag that was strapped to her back, removing a headset and a laptop.

She quickly booted up the laptop, and fitted the headpiece expertly into her left ear. When she looked up, she saw Shiki ready to go, the covering off of the shaft, and a rock climbing harness strapped to his body, and secured to a spare holding.

"We got ten minutes love, then we gotta move or kill more guards." Rima said lightly, her fingers flying over the keys in the correct sequence to hack into the mainframe of building. Within six seconds, she had the video feed replaced so that Shiki could walk the halls with the security guards only seeing a blank hallway. She looked up as Shiki got ready to scale down the shaft. She whistled to get his attention, and held up three fingers to show that the motion detection devices were going off line in three seconds.

Just as her last finger dropped, and before Shiki plummeted twenty feet down, he looked towards her, his silver eyes glinting dangerously in the bright light of the full moon. Through their linked bond, which was always kept close on missions for fear of other strong telepaths hearing them, was almost pushed open and Rima felt a flood of heat and wanting, blood, lust, Shiki-

Rima slammed down on their link, basically removing herself from Shiki's mind, which was something that hadn't happened ever since they had been mated thirty years ago.

Panting like she had just sprinted miles, adrenaline pumping through out her system, she noticed that he had gone down already. Cursing fluently in French, she threw the switch that connected her headset to a matching one fitted in Shiki's ear.

His warm chuckle float down the line and into Rima's ear causing her blood to once again heat. "Really Rima. Breaking out the French? Am I that desirable?"

"Shiki Senri! You knew excatly what it would do to me!" Her voice suddenly dropped an octave, turning into a husky alto, much different from her usual high soprano. "Just I know excatly what this is doing to you now..." Shiki's sudden silence comfirmed her suspisions. "Now, as much fun as this, we really need to get that necklace. By the way, there's a thirty second limit on the motion sensors, and after that their back online. You've used up about half of that." She knew that with his vampire speed and strength that he only really needed about three seconds, but it was so fun to surprise him. Escecially since he knew her so well that he could usually spoil any suprises that she might have.

"Dammit Rima!" She chuckled, and then heard Shiki bring just a little of his speed up so he could pass through the hallway undectected.

"I'm in." His voice was back to the professionalism.

Her voice copied his as she answered with directions. "Ten meters ahead, the second right will lead you to the waiting room of his office. It would appear that the target has moved from his office, to his apartment." His answer was silence, but that didn't matter because she knew he was going to get the job done. After all, they had something to finish, and from the way Shiki was pushing on their bond, he wanted to finish it soon.

The way was easy, the security in the waiting room and office juvenile at best. It wasn't until Shiki got to Adams living quarters, situated directly above his office and taking up the entire floor, that Shiki ran into trouble. He was out of ammo, and there were still six of the bastards standing.

"Rima...how in the hell did you not know that there were an extra ten men stationed around this floor." He ducked and kicked the legs out from under the man in front of him, breaking his neck as soon as he was down.

"Its quite simple actually." Her seemingly calm facade was broken as he heard the light sound of quick fingers dancing across the keys of her laptop. "Adams is apparently a private man, and he didn't put cameras in his personal quarters. Where the extra men were standing there weren't any windows to to see them from." Her fingers stilled and her already short breathing stopped completely. Despite modern understanding, vampires did in fact need to breath, and since Shiki knew Rima well enough to understand her slightest reactions, he reacted correctly.

He ducked, and covered.

Just in time for the giant pane of glass making up the south wall to shatter into a million pieces, and he watched in absolute disbelief as Rima flew _(jumped) _into the room from the roof of the building from across the street with both of her customized handguns a blazin'.

The rest of the men fell down, blood running gently out of the sinlge bullet hole that caused their deaths. Rima was not only the top computer geek, she prefered expert, she was also the top sharpshooter. She calmly made her way over to Shiki who was quickly and efficiently clearning the rest of the apartment. He stopped before the door to the master bedroom and nodded to Rima who was backed up against the wall, poised to shoot anyone as soon as Shiki busted down the door.

He suddenly brought his leg up and with far more power than necessary, broke down the door, only to find the entire suite empty.

"They must have circled back to the office, thats were the vault is." Shiki said looking back at Rima who nodded and walked out the door, heading towards the elevator. Shiki followed, not knowing the way having taken the stairs the first time to save his stealthy approch, and they both boarded calmly waiting for the cabin to lower ten feet, waiting patiently in front of the doors, elevator music chiming in all the while. Rima cleared her throat, and adjusted the gun on her right hip, keeping her other one in her free hand.

Shiki could sense she was uncomforable, and used this time to relieve his greedy senses begging to touch her again. She was his and his alone, no one could touch her. He cared for her, and her only, and he would rather willing die than let another male touch her. His hand gently touched her hers, nearly groaning at the total relief that just touching her brought. Muscles he didn't know were clenched, realxed and smoothed over as he felt her soft skin under his own rougher palms.

Her sharp intake of breath was the answer he was looking for, and grinning mentally, he tugged on their bond, wishing to be let into her head, which belonged to him and her. No one else.

As her hand drifted from under his own, he felt her tight grip on her emotions and thoughts being to loosen. His hand gripped the gun at her hip, and pulled it loose, showing it to Rima. "You think I'm going in unarmed?"

Her hold on her emotions let go completely, and the complete essence of Rima wrapped itself around him. She smiled at him gently, him being the only one see that smile, and the only one who would. For some reason, his possesive insticts were really kicking in.

The door opened and they both stepped out, to find Leiko and Zanebono both standing there with their guns at their feet and their hands in the air. Both of their wrists were exposed, and the tatoo that symbolized their affinaty to the Coil was gone.

The tatoo was a special ink pigmant that was tied into an Enchantment that, when an agent chose to go rouge, the tatoo simply disappered. Each agency used a different Enchantment, so their was no chance of sneaking in as a double agent. The tatoos started about two hundred years ago, so that anyone could tell if the person that they were working with was rouge or not.

Zanebono spoke suddenly, his deep bass voice matching perfectly with his tall six nine height, broad shoulders, and huge biceps. He was half Italian, so he recieved the dark swarthy looks from his mother, curly black hair close to his scalp, and dark eyes. "We want out of the Coil. We wish for a free pass out of the building, then the game starts again. If not we will fight." Leiko subetly shifted her weight, crouching down, going for her gun, hazel eyes on Shiki and Rima's hands the entire time. Her brown hair was pulled back in a bun, but it would usually hand down to her shoulders. She also stood a full foot shorter than her mate, but she had just as much muscle power as him. Rima knew from experience.

"Why?" Rima asked warily, her gun trained on Leiko, Shiki's on Zanebono. "We'll give you the free pass, but I wish to know why."

Leiko was the one who ansered this time, her voice deeped than Rima's naturally high voice. "Because the Coil is wishing to start a war over this." There was no physical change in either of the two Arget agents. "You know who the necklace used to belong to?" Shiki grunted, moving closer to Zanebono's gun. "They stationed men here, knowing that the Argent would send agents. And, not knowing that they belonged to the Coil..."

Leiko didn't need to finish. They both knew very well what would happen. Full out war, with no mercy on either side. Rima lowered her gun, and motioned towards the elavator. Leiko and Zanebono walked over, leaving their guns. Shiki kept his back to them, keeping watch on the office door, just across the waiting room. "Well we've already started it. Kaname-sama gave us orders to kill everyone from the Coil, but since you've gone rouge and your tatoo is gone as well..." She trailed off and shrugged. "Besides, I want to kill you on my terms."

Leiko raised her hand, and Zanebono inclined his head respectfully. "Then we wish you best Argent-Touya, Argent-Shiki."

"To you as well Rouge-Nakamura, Rouge-Shouji."

The elavator doors closed. Rima turned to Shiki, who had picked up the extra guns and ammo, just in case. They started to clear the floor, even though they both knew Adams was in the office.

They arrived to that last, with no hassles, and they both walked in causually, like they owned the place. The only thing out of place were the guns tucked into the wastebands of their pants.

They found him infront of the fireplace, with the necklace that was their prize dangling from his finger tips. It was twirling slightly, throwing off prisms of light from the stone in the center. It was a plain necklace, with a clear diamond in the center of a golden lily, but it was big. The entire necklace was as big as Rima's hand, with the stone taking up half of the mass. They both froze, however, as the looked at Adams clearly for the first time, not through a green tinted snipers scope. He was an average build, average height, and he was all together plain with brown eyes and greying brown hair. He should appear around fifty five from what the mission scroll said. This however was an all together different man.

The scroll also said that Adams had absolutly no magical blood in his heritage, so he had no chance to use Enchantments.

The man in front of them looked to be about ninty five. His skin, papered and weathered, was hanging off of his bones in folds. He was sick, the wrongness of it permenting the air, and he had Power and Enchantments wrapped so tight around his body, that Shiki was half hoping they would break him in half so they didn't have to kill him.

"Well. So Shizuka-sama was correct. The Argent would move against the Coil." His was also sickly, high and reedy. Annoying.

"Your just a puppet old man. Shizuka-sama will kill you eventually." Shiki spoke coldly.

"You think I don't know that?" He responded sharply, doubling over coughing. Sputtering he stood up slowly again, still holding the necklace over the fire. "I don't care. This necklace will cure me of my sickness, and I will be forever immortal."

"So Enchantment sickens, and Enchantment heals." Rima stated dryly, moving ever so closer to Adams.

He noticed and compenstated, stepping back two paces. Yet he was still in reach of the fire. It was one of those that stood in the middle of the room, and it was a circle. "Very good. You have some talent then." He looked at Rima apprasingly, and Shiki growled threatingly. Adams grinned, and swung the necklace closer to the flames, muttering a few choice words that nither Shiki or Rima could hear. The fire blazed suddenly, and turned a bright, bright blue. "I used so much of my Power, that I eventually started to tap into my Life Force." Rima widened eyes and gasp was all that he needed to continue. "So you see, Shizuka offered to kindly help me. I just had to give her half of the Power that I recieved back once I regained my Life Force."

"Two things wrong with your plan." Shiki said quietly, his gun still trained on Adams. As Adams turned his back to look at him, he saw Rima slowly, quietly, start to make her way up behind him. He just needed to buy her some time. "One, you cannot regian your Life Force once lost. Enchanters have been trying for centuries, and its never been done. Two. Adams, your a world class criminal, renounded for not sharing Power. I have a very good feeling, no idea, that you would never share Power, just because someone is helping you with an impossible task."

Adams grinned, and chuckled quietly. The grin did nothing to help his face, it just pulled the skin taunt and showed just how gaunt he was. Since he had tapped into his Life Force, he was literally wasting away in front of their eyes. Once the sickness started, it would actually speed up, taking years off of a person in less than a week. It was how Rima's parents, and Shiki's mother died, so they knew just how powerful it was. They also knew just how hopeless it was.

"Thats were your wrong. See, this necklace is special. Though its magical, you cannot sense any Enchantment or Power from it."

"How can you tell its magical then?" Shiki shot back. Rima was almost there, Enchantments on her boots keeping her from stepping too loudly.

Adams laughed loudly. "Watch." He started to weave an Enchantment of Breaking, the sickly blue threads of his personal magic slowing and starting to center around the necklace still hanging from his hands. He finished the spell with his closing word, "Makuino!", and nothing happened. Shiki stared at the amulet, as did Rima, in amazement. While Adams was still sick, he was a world class Enchanter and spell weaver. That Enchantment should have shattered the piece of gold into a thousand pieces.

"How-"

"The amulet absorbs Power." Adams answered calmly, looking at the amulet transfixed.

"How the hell does this help you with your Life Force?" Shiki said angrily.

Adams looked at him like it should be obvious. "This is the first of its kind. A piece of magic that absorbs Power, instead of giving it off. What do you think I'm going to do?" His eyes briefly, just barely noticable, slid towards the still blue fire. For the first time Shiki really looked at the fire. The flames were dancing with Power, a very strong Enchantment. The Enchantment of Absorbtion. Realization dawned in his eyes, as Rima finally got around behind the target, and tackled him down to the ground, the amulet sliding across the floor to come to a stop at Shiki's feet. Adams gave a low scream, before landing in a heap on the floor.

Rima took his pulse quickly, and found it still beating, if not as strong as it should be for a vampire. "He's still alive. How should we kill him?" Shiki looked down at him, a crippled old man, who should be a man well in the prime of his life.

"We won't." Rima looked at him quizzically. "I think Kaname-sama will be interested to know what Shizuka is currently doing, don't you think?"

"Right." Rima answered with all the confidence that one who knew what someone else was talking about. Rima was a good liar.

It surprised many people when it turned out that Shiki had one of the highest shear magical potentials seen in years, and that he was actually able to use that potential. The about of magic that could be outputted from a single person was a match to the magical potential locked away in a person's soul. The test that was developed to read potentials was actually just invented about a hundred years ago, which in the history of the vampires, wasn't very long ago. He scored a 9.5, which was unheard of at anything other than a pureblood. More specifically, a 9.542651, but they just rounded down, which Shiki was very grumpy about, which in turned amused Rima greatly.

So, while Rima had the great sharpshooter skills and the techiness, with passable magic (a 7.3 on the test), Shiki was the main magic user and theorist of the duo. "He was going to use an Enchantment of Absorption to gain back his Life Force." Rima looked at him like he was crazy, while Shiki sighed as he grabbed the necklace and tossed it to Rima. He then drug the old man/vampire up on his shoulder, after throwing on invisible magical bonds to hold him tight should he wake up, and started towards the elevator with Rima, examining the necklace, following. "Thats what the flames were spun with, and he was just heating up the necklace with the Enchantment."

"Well that's useless." Rima announced as they stepped into the elevator and the horrible music started playing. Shiki slanted a glance at her and she sighed. Ducking down, she opened the electronic panel and started messing with some wires. One floor out of sixty done gone, and the music stopped. Standing up again, Rima cleared her throat. "You never answered my question."

"It's wasn't a question, and how was it useless?" Rima scowled at him, then realizing that he wasn't going to say more, decided to answer his own question.

"Everyone who has every worked with magic at all knows that its impossible to regain Life."

"Were you listening to us at all while you snuck up on him?" Her silence was his answer. "The amulet absorbs magic instead of giving it off, and he was going to Absorb a Life Force, I'm guessing our Life Forces, and then transfer it to him somehow." Rima paled visably, and even Shiki felt shaken. What he was talking about was forbidden magic, using human sacrifices for a person's own purposes. The only way a human sacrifice was allowed was for execution, and as a mercy killing, it was only allowed to be quick and painless.

A muffled groaning turned their attention downwards to where Shiki had deposited Adams. He was wiggling around on the ground, Shiki's magical bonds holding him bound tight, causing his shirt to ride up revealing a snake tattooed down his ribcage. That tattoo was synonymous with the Coil, and since it was hidden so, and in such a place where it wasn't seen, that could only mean that they had found Shizuka's lover.

"So now were turning him over to Kaname. Hm...I wonder if the Council will approve a non-mercy killing sacrifice for his offense." Adams eyes grew wide, his muffled sounds growing more panicked.

Shiki grinned coldly, knowing that they would.

"Your greed for Life caused this, Adams. Reap what you sow."

* * *

_Safe-breaking and vault-breaking are at least as old as the pyramids and burial chambers of Egypt. Poking holes in vaults and safes for profit appears to be as durable as greed. -James Chiles_

_The writer's greed is appalling. He wants, or seems to want, everything and practically everybody, in another sense, and at the same time, he needs no one at all. - __James Arthur Baldwin_

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry! I know, I'm really late. But school started, so did the State Fair (I got a cool wooden sword though!), the Olympics, and swimming. Urgh! So since I'm late, I gave you and extra two thousand words or so. Forgiven? New Universe again, I'm having way too much fun creating different places for these guys hehe. I'm not even sure if half of this makes sense -sweatdrop- So as always, reviews, criticism, and editing is much loved! And I put two quotes this time, because I loved the last one hehe.

Disclaimer: I own nothing named Vampire Knight. Dammit, I almost put Vampire Knights, I really need to stop that!

**NEXT: **Um...haven't decided yet. Yeah...either gonna be Pride or Wrath, leaning towards Pride.


	5. Superbia

**SIN: Pride**

_SUPERBIA_

_

* * *

Pride is a lofty view of one's self or one's own. Pride often manifests itself as a high opinion of one's nation (national pride), ethnicity (ethnic pride), or appearance and abilities (vanity). Be forewarned about dealing with vampires, for they are the most prideful of all the creatures. _

* * *

"Do you consider yourself prideful?"

Her glance answered it quite clearly. _No. _But just for the sake of the people around them, she answered. "What is pride anyway?"

Hidden smirk.

Exasperated sighs from the fellows around them. Whether it be vampires, nobles, reporters, humans, they could never understand those two.

"Pride is a sin." He answered plainly, continuing to walk ahead, his pace in time with hers.

Hearts beating as one.

"Vampires represent sin. So in essence, we are expected to be sinful."

"Exactly."

"So yes. I'm prideful."

_The white, so white, snow fell down._

_Down, down, down…_

"_Bonjour petite madame." A clerk at the store that her mother was currently shopping at came quietly up to her. She continued to stare out of the window, not really ignoring the mans horrible attempts at French, but not really listening either. She was pleased that he called her madame, and with the tone of a commoner speaking to his ruler. _

_She liked being important. _

_He started babbling rapidly, obviously thinking himself a Frenchman because he spoke a little, barely any, of the language and he worked in a French clothing store. She fully tuned him out around the third time he mispronounced one of the simplest words. She scoffed to herself. _

'_Honestly. Humans.' Her disgust was plain on her face, and of course, the human didn't notice. _

_Finally, after what seemed like hours, he stopped. Maybe to take a breath, to give his brain some relief from his horrible voice and his fake accent. Her mother choose the perfect time to come out of the dressing room, with a raw dark blue silk blouse and a dark pair of jeans with heels that made her already imposing figure even taller. She carried a latte that was offered to all the VIPs that shopped here (Rima's nose picked up the smell of it, and could instantly tell that it was the cheap stuff that people tried to pass off as expensive. Rima also noticed that her mother knew as well, for her nose was wrinkled, barely noticeable, and the displeased expression in her eyes stated quite clearly that there was nothing good to be had here. They were never coming back). _

_The man's expression quickly fell seeing a potentially huge sale walking right out from under his nose. His expression instantly turned nasty. Rima was following his train of thought, and instantly covered her mother when he said, "You know madame, your skin is looking a bit blotchy today. I've heard that mall is selling a new skin concealer to help even that out if we're a bit to expensive for you." _

_Mother just smirked eyeing the poor man who was shorter than her by nearly a foot. Her eyes flickered just barely to her face, and Rima knew that she was allowed to handle the situation from now on. _

_He had obviously taken mother's silence as motive for him to continue and he opened his mouth to do just so when he was cut off quickly. _

"_At least she doesn't have acne still at, what age are you, 25?" His face paled, making the red blemishes stand out even more than they already were. "Plus, she doesn't speak a language she doesn't even know. Its pronounced 'ils', not 'ills' you imbecile." She let a tone of authority come over her voice, authority that came only with a certain status of wealth and privilege. She walked straight up to him, her childish face glaring up angrily at the 25 year old man who probably still lived with a family member. "If you ever insult my family again, you'll be living out in the streets with not a penny to your name within minutes. Do you understand?"_

_Without even waiting for a reply, Rima flounced out the door chasing after a head of chestnut, the chime tinkling merrily. She didn't know that Senri and his mother were in town…_

_Her mother followed at a more sedate pace, dumping her bad coffee as soon as she cleared the entryway and hit the sidewalk. She dug in her purse, not caring about her daughter running ahead. She had seen Senri and his mother as well and knew she wouldn't go far. She finally found her cigarette and lit up. Glancing back inside she smirked as she saw the man collapse in a chair._

_He never really regained his pride. _

The conversation continued.

"What about you, Senri?"

The brunette paused, stalling them by the lake that was located closely by the Academy.

"I am prideful."

Lazy. Handsome. Genius.

"How so?"

Lazy. Beautiful. Genius.

"I'm the only one that deserves to have you."

Rima shrugged blandly.

It was true after all.

_Five feet of black canvas stretched the wall. _

_Five feet of a masterpiece that was made in less than an hour._

_Five feet of painting that only he could create. _

_The planets streaked out before him on that canvas, glittering and glinting in the amber light that was allowed to grace this awesome piece of work._

_Uranus was on the far left, a pale blue ball that seemed airbrushed, rings surrounding and seemingly in motion. The finished gloss on the planet made it seem like a large marble. _

_Jupiter was inches next Uranus, the orbital rings drawn in a silver ink that seemed to scream special. He was so special, he could use even the most expensive materials on a hobby. Red, orange, brown rings circled the drawn lifelike planet. Tan spots (storms maybe?) periodically dotted the surface. All the colurs blended into together so well, you couldn't even tell where he had used a brush to blend. _

_He hadn't in reality. Smirk. He used his hands._

_Earth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Neptune followed in succeeding order all laid out like a children's game of marbles. The Sun was the crowning master piece of the masterpiece. _

_Situated in the very center, everything revolving around it, the Sun was approximately three time bigger than the other planets, which were all the same size regardless of how big they were in real life. It was drawn in such detail, that if one were to go into trying to describe it they would fail within the first uttering of the words, "It looked like…". _

_That wasn't what Senri was most proud of however. _

_Pluto, the planet most forgotten about, was being flicked away by a giant hand. Pushed off the canvas, away from human's memories. Who's hand was it? It had the fingernails and fingers of a woman, but the wrist and palm of a man. Was it a goddess, or God? A queen or a common man who was in a mess to big to handle. _

_Senri chuckled, proud to know that scientists from his race would, in years time, feed the false information that Pluto wasn't a planet to the human scientists. _

_Humans. So naïve. _

_He settled back, sipping his glass of champagne, and watching his universe turn. _

_He never heard so much of pride. _

It was dark.

And someone was moving around in his room. Ichijou's eyes flew open, noticing that he had just fallen asleep bar forty minutes ago. He groaned loudly, flopping over in bed. He ended up facing the door which was open.

He froze, as did Shiki who was silently exiting the room. "What are you doing?" Ichijou hissed, not moving from his position. "We cannot leave our rooms." Ichijou's words, however, didn't match his face or his tone.

He knew very well where Shiki was going.

Shiki was clad only in his sleep pants, so when his face flushed it was more noticeable as it slowly crawled up his chest and neck. He glared and quietly shut the door, extinguishing what little light there was.

Ichijou wondered how long this little affair had been going on, and just how much of their pride they were going to risk for it.

_What is pride? _

_Is it knowing you're the best? _

_That your superior?_

_Or is it knowing that you would throw it all away for something? _

_Someone?_

Shiki opened the door, and slipped into the room quietly.

Rima rolled over and smiled that soft smile that only he was gifted with. He collapsed on her gently, her warm body cushioning his with a soft sigh. Her hair was mussed, and eyes clouded over with exhaustion, and yet.

Shiki Senri was never more prideful of the fact that he had gotten Touya Rima. Him and no one else.

_

* * *

"It is better to lose your pride with someone you love rather than to lose that someone you love with your useless pride."

* * *

_Disclaimer:If I could own Vampire Knight, I would stop focusing on Zero, and much more on Kaname. Though, since the opposite of that is happening, I can thus deduce that I don't own Vampire Knight.

**A/N:** I know, I'm a horrible person. One, Its not very long. There are three explanations for this. I'm tired, its one in the morning and I wrote this in two hours when I was supposed to be either doing homework or my case for debate. I had a different chapter partially written but it completely sucked and so I started over and I really wanted to post tonight. So its short. But the most important thing was...its better short. Plain and simple, I liked it better short.

Another thing. I'm a horrible person again for not updating. I'm not going to even go into excuses, just know I'm busy, and tired. And Lazy. Very very lazy. So yeas, yell at me all you want I'll take it all it. As long as I get some good advice or love. I love the love from you guys ) Also, if you wanna head over to my LJ (its my homepage) and talk to me, I'll talk back. Because LiveJournal is awesome, and I need to open more people to it. So I actually know ppl besides rachynn. (HI RACHYNN!)

So yeah, hope your not _too _disappointed with the shortness. Though personally, this is def. one of my fav chapters ever written by me.

Also, spelling is a must for me. If you catch anything that needs to be fixed. TELL ME! ...I'm going to bed.

_**NEXT: **_WRATH

Pluto is a planet. I dont care what anyone says.


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